One Night in JumboMart
by SnarkySusan
Summary: What was supposed to be a normal meal turned out to be the turning point of something they never expected to happen between two of County General's finest doctors.


TITLE: One Night in JumboMart  
>PAIRING: SusanElizabeth  
>RATING: T<br>SETTING: Canon until Season 11, Episode 4. Elizabeth stays, the whole HIV donor fiasco didn't happen, Susan gets tenure and still had Cosmo. Set on an AU Season 12.  
>DISCLAIMER: Characters are not mine. I just borrow them. Enjoy!<p>

It's a Thursday, probably around two or three in the morning. You had a LONG day at work, with 6 marathon surgeries occupying you the whole day without any chance of sleep, judging from the suitcases under your eyes when you went down the ER. Well, you were just supposed to have only three surgeries scheduled, as you told me, but the other three were sudden traumas after a 23-casualty bus crash at I-55, consuming much of the little break you had.

Of course, you just wanna sit back and relax in that nice, comfy surgery lounge upstairs. But you were so tired of going up and down the two floors, you instead decided to crash on the ER lounge.

You were about to close your eyes and doze off when I entered the lounge, tired after a 12 hour shift myself. I wanted the same thing as you did - Just put my feet up and sleep all day. Not a very complicated demand, right? Easier said than done, I know. I notice the massive mass of curls covering your face, making you easy to identify. I immediately thought, "Why are you here?"

As you lie on the couch, you hear a squeaky sound as you felt me sitting on the armchair beside you. I was gasping for breath, totally expected after such a long shift.

"You know you're not supposed to be here.", I tell her. "You lost your special privileges here last year."

"You know Susan, I can't really be arsed to go back to the Surgery floor right now.", you moan as you shifted to your side. "I did six surgeries today and I haven't even had my lunch yet."

"Well, maybe a meal would be a better idea than staying here and getting a lecture from Weaver. She's working tonight." I matter-of-factly tell you. "JumboMart okay? I was about to say Doc Magoo's, but then I remember that it has been gone for three years."

All you wanted was a nice comfy place to rest your weary, worn out head on after such a long day. But you value your sanity even more than sleep so begrudgingly, you rise from the couch and join me on the way to JumboMart.

"What a day.", I say wearily. "And I still have another 5 hours to go in 2 hours."

"I thought being Chief of Emergency Medicine means you get to be flexible with your hours?", you ask me. "Well at least I do for the most part."

"I do, but Abby's on maternity leave, Neela's called in sick, and Ray's got some sort of gig again.", I sigh. "So it's just me, Pratt, Morris and Kovac today."

"Don't you have any moonlighters here?", you inquisitively ask. "Upstairs, we have surgeons take over when so many of the regulars are out."

"Moonlighters are scared away once they see the state of the ER when they are needed.", I share with you, going out with you to the ambulance bay. "One time, one of them even gave Weaver 400 bucks just so he would not just step into the place."

"What did she do?"

"These were her exact words - 'A per diem doctor means you are expected to come when you are needed, and you're expected to pick up the slack.'", you laugh as Susan uttered those very words in an admittedly failure of an attempt to recreate the high, strident tones of their superior. "'So shut up, do your damn job, get your pay and go home!'"

"Typical Weaver.", you say to her, secretly stifling a chuckle as you both enter JumboMart. "We never get such entertainment upstairs. Not unless you count the Romano One-Liner of the Day. Even that we don't get here after he died.", you say to me sadly. It was impossible to hide how much you miss what you "that infuriating little man". To be quite honest, I really missed him too, and I seriously, sincerely wished I went to his funeral. Even if it's just to keep you company.

You hear me sigh and say to myseld, "I miss Doc Magoo's." while looking for any sign of a vacant seat on this conglomerate-owned store that resembles nothing like their usual hangout. Gone were the tables, chairs, and the diner-like atmosphere always present in Docs, and in comes the generic, cold, corporate one this new store has.

Luckily as the two of us went inside, a table was suddenly vacated, leaving a space for us to finally grab a bite to eat.

"You know the only thing I loved here was their free coffee when you buy a dozen donuts deal.", I complain. "Frank and Jerry have a field day when someone brings a box in. Doc's donuts are still much better though. The donuts here are basically edible inflatable rings. None of that "cakey" bite present like the ones from Doc Magoo's – it's all air now. You need at least three to feel full."

You just can't help but give a little chuckle on my commentary on the commercialization of old staff hangouts. Somehow you just knew that a day spent with me will surely fill you with colorful stories from the beet soup prank we did with Conni who was already overdue on the birth of her child, to the time where I inserted a sunflower on an obnoxious patient named Mr. Luck's anus, to Jack Kayson's awkward Valentine's proposal after I helped him recover from his heart attack.

Sometimes you can't help but, in your own words, feel jealous of all that camaraderie the ER staff always had even when you just arrived in Chicago in the middle of a live documentary shoot (which I sadly didn't get to witness as I was already in Phoenix by that time).

You tell me that all you encounter everyday were a group of smartmouths who consider verbal sparring their national sport, and getting themselves knee-deep into a person's guts as their main hobby. You were about to do a mini comparative study of the ER and the Surgery staff when you then spot me bring along with two large cups of coffee and a couple of cheeseburgers.

"All they had left were nachos with orange cheese and those edible inflatable rings I was talking about.", I snark as I sit beside you the small round table. "These cheeseburgers are surprisingly the ones with the least amount of empty calories."

"Better than nothing, I suppose.", you sigh as you open your cheeseburger. "I've been craving for a home-cooked meal for quite a while, and I can't do that since I have been scheduled on morning marathon surgeries since last Friday, and that's just the scheduled ones."

"With Abby on maternity leave, I've been covering most of her shifts. On top of that, I still have to take care of Cosmo and try to get myself a few research grants while managing the ER all at the same time.", I say while grabbing a bite. "It's amazing how I'm still able to sleep for two hours."

"Tenure review?", you ask me, pretty much unsure if you're asking the right question. With that, I shook my head side-to-side, indicating a no.

"I'm already in tenure for six months already, but I need some more money for Cosmo's college fund and get my credentials into shape even a little bit. And along with that, things with Chuck...aren't exactly working out as we planned.", I share, the happy front I put up gradually fading. "Or maybe planned is a wrong word for it since we got married in a drive-thru slash mini-chapel in Las Vegas."

"Oh, now I see why you were on the edge lately.", you whisper to me. "How are your arrangements right now, then?"

"Since after the annullment we didn't actually get married again, there wasn't really any ugly custody battle or anything like that.", I casually tell you. "You can't really stay mad with Chuck for a long time, but you can't really stay together with him for a long time either. Cosmo's usually with me, but he's with Chuck when I'm at work. Since he went back to being a flight nurse after we separated, it's more or less close to 50-50 at the moment. I don't really know how you do it though."

"Do what?", you question as you take a big gulp on your cup of coffee. You always loved that feeling - the feeling of hot liquid drawing a line down your throat until it ends up being a warm, buzzy feeling from your stomach spreading to your senses – somehow keeping you awake and energized. You prefer tea more, like a lot of English people I know, but somehow, coffee is all they have, and you're fine with that too.

"You know, heading the Surgery department while taking care of Ella on your own and keeping a more or less active social life?", I ask you.

"I don't even know if I consider myself having an active social life.", you shyly laugh. "I haven't gone anywhere but home and the hospital in weeks."

"What about surgeon Dorsett? Or that British doctor?", I ask, pretty much desperate for details. "And didn't you spend the night with that teacher? Didn't I tell you to introduce me if you were not interested with any of them?"

"Turns out Dorsett was married. He was simply hiding pictures of his wife in his cabinet when I come over.", you tell me, the hint of anger and bitterness pretty much visible on your face. "And with the others, we simply drifted apart. I don't really think it's their fault though. They're really sweet, really interesting men who I can have a decent conversation with."

"Why is that?", I ask, genuinely concerned. "Well except for Dorsett because he's simply a douche for doing that to you."

"I don't know. I just don't feel that very same connection I felt with Mark.", you softly say in almost a whisper. "It's like I keep yearning for him to be with Ella on her first sentence, her first day of school, her prom, her wedding...Having to go through all her milestones on my own is really hard for me to take. It's like I can't move on to another man without feeling that I have cheated on him. I feel that even after almost four years, it was still too soon for me to move on to another."

"You know, Elizabeth – having known Mark for so many years, I really really think he would have wanted you to move on with your life.", I say, trying to stop the watering on my eyes while wishing that this conversation happened somewhere more private. "It doesn't mean that it's not okay to miss him. Even all these years, I still wish he was here. I never thought that he would be gone so soon after we met again. I had so many regrets, so many questions, like had I known that he would be dying soon, I would have left Phoenix much earlier."

"Speaking of Phoenix, how are Chloe and little Susie doing?", you query.

"Chloe's been clean and sober for three years since her relapse, last I heard from Joe. This time though, I really think she's going to make it happen, now that she got that close call.", I open up, letting out a smile. "And little Susie, well she's not so little anymore, is doing great. Honor roll, school paper, really active in school now. She actually coming to Chicago next week for spring break to visit Grandpa, Big Susie and her cousin Cosmo. She's really excited judging from the long phone calls I get."

"You must be really excited too.", you grin.

"I am. Haven't seen her in over four years, so I wanna make sure that every time spent with her is worth it.", I beam, failing to contain this euphoria. "Look, I can't even keep a straight face!"

I really don't know how come I can open up this much to you, almost as much as I opened up to someone like, say, Mark. Somehow spending time with you makes me feel...comfortable, safe. Like I have this utmost trust in you with my deepest, darkest secrets, and not doubt even for one second that it's going to be out in the open the minute we part.

But more than that is the question that keeps on nagging me for the longest time, "Are we really friends? Or is it more than that?". Don't know why, but I have been strangely attracted to you for quite a while now. I can't help but notice how your curls fall on your face when the wind blows, or how your blue-green eyes sparkle as you look at me, or even contagious your smile is in those rare times I see it. Even how you chew your burger makes me speechless.

"Susan?", you suddenly call me, taking me by surprise.

You then take my hand, placed it on the table, and put your own on top of mine while telling me, "Susan, it's really hard for me to admit this, but the real reason why all of my relationships after Mark died didn't last was not because I thought it was too soon. It's because all this time, I have been waiting for you. That time when I found out that you went back to Chuck honestly left me devastated, so that's why kept dating other people – I tried to forget you, but I really just can't."

I can't help but gasp in shock when you said all those words. I was about to cut you off when you start to continue on...

"When I lied beside Dorsett on his bed, I kept thinking it was you who was beside me. When I was with Dave, I imagined that you were the one I had dinner with, and when I was with Jeremy, deep in my mind, I wished you were there.", you confessed. "When you told me things were not going well with Chuck, it opened a huge chance for me. But I could see that you were still adjusting, so I hesitated on telling you how I actually feel until now."

"Elizabeth...", I can only utter, struggling to find the right words. "I...don't know what to say."

"I'm sorry for telling you all this. I can understand if you don't really share the same feelings as I do.", you convey, a tear starting to fall out. "It's just that, I don't really want this uncertain feeling to linger on without telling you."

"No, Elizabeth. It's just that...", I say while holding your hand, letting our fingers intertwine. "It's just that, I was about to tell you the very same thing. I just light up when they call you for a consult, just so I can see your face again. Every chance I get to spend time with you, I try to get. Every moment I spend with you, I try to cherish, and every moment I cherish, I always remember."

You then let out your biggest smile and start to giggle like a schoolgirl. After a moment, I start to do the same thing. A moment of brief awkward silence emanated the atmosphere, neither of us unable to speak. You move closer, our sides almost touching each other.

"It's been a while since I kissed another woman, but...", you tell me, your feet shuffling from nervousness. You then cup your hand on my chin and bring my face closer to yours. I haven't really kissed a woman before so this is completely new territory for me.

You placed your lips on mine and lingered on for a few seconds. At first, I was completely frozen, not knowing what to do. I then press my own lips into yours, lingering on their warmth and softness I don't usually get from kissing a man. My heart started to pound out of my chest, my cheeks starting to flush. You dive in a little deeper into my mouth attempting to get my taste, and so did I with you.

The two of us longer really care that the bored cashier behind the counter is getting a nice show like a scene from those romance films they usually preview in the cinema. All we cared about was the two of us, and that moment we shared of finally admitting our relationship to ourselves.

"Can't believe we I had my first kiss with you in JumboMart of all places.", you peal with laughter. "Had I known this would happen, I would have picked the rooftop. It's more romantic there. Even Doc Magoo's would have been a better choice."

"Nah, the rooftop is too cliché. Too many stories set in there already. At least we already have a rather interesting first kiss story to tell people.", I tell her. "My first kiss with you is in JumboMart at three in the morning with the cashier on duty as our witness."

"At least it's not, say, one of the Exam Rooms. Too morbid – plus the risk of our arses going straight to Kerry Weaver's office for public display of intimacy.", you smile. "So...should we go? It's almost three-thirty."

"Sure.", I say, looking at my watch. "Back to the grind soon, too?"

"Yeah, I still have two surgeries in five hours.", you sigh. "Need all the sleep I can get. Can I still crash on the ER lounge? I really don't want to get up?"

"Hey, why can't I crash on the Surgery floor? Abby said it's much more cozy there.", you playfully tell her as you slap her shoulder. "And you have more expensive coffee than we do. I give you special privileges on the ER lounge."

"I can give you a special pass to the surgery floor.", you share. "That is, if you go there often enough."

"Yeah right.", I roll my eyes. "Come on, County needs us.", and with that, I left JumboMart, with a full stomach, a caffiene-induced high, and a curly-haired surgeon slash new romance by my side.


End file.
